A key meeting of the American bishops was knocked off course this week when a vote to approve some new prayers for the Mass gave way to an eruption of complaints and concerns.The conference's approval of a newly rendered Proper of Seasons - the collection of daily texts used at Mass - was almost universally expected to be a fait accompli.
But several bishops at the conference's spring plenary meeting in Orlando in Florida last week voiced their misgivings on significant aspects of the proposed text, following the circulation of comments by the bishops' leading critic of the translation, Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie. The reworking is part of a decade-long Vatican effort to align the prayers more closely with their original Latin.
In an interview with the Erie Times-News published on the opening day of the meeting, Bishop Trautman - who recently ended his second term as chairman of the Bishops' Committee on the liturgy - repeated criticisms he made in The Tablet (3 February 2007) that the new translation is not accessible enough, citing words such as "ineffable" and "ancient bondage", and the use of lengthy, multiple-clause sentences. The bishop said he was still "reserved about endorsing" the new text, arguing, "This should be the prayer of the people."
But Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, New Jersey, argued that words such as "ineffable" are uncommon but "not unspeakable", airing his views on his diocesan website after the meetings.
He asked, "Why cannot the liturgy use words that elevate the language from the street to the altar?"
During the meetings, the words and structure became a heated point of contention. Another bishop, Robert Lynch of St Petersburg in Florida, voiced opposition to the text and said his decision to do so took "courage".
In the end the motion gained too few votes to either attain the required two-thirds majority to pass the draft or the one-third needed to reject it, and will have to go to a postal vote.
Held in a different city every year, the conference's spring meeting invariably draws a significantly lower attendance than the conference's November meeting in Baltimore.
The bishops found wider agreement on the issue of embryonic stem-cell research and a statement was agreed upon with only one dissenting vote from the nearly 200 bishops present.
It said calls for stem-cell research espoused the belief "that we may directly kill innocent embryonic human beings as if they were mere objects of research - and even that we should make taxpayers complicit in such killing through use of public funds."
The bishops approved new, stricter guidelines against withdrawing artificial means of nutrition and hydration for patients who are otherwise in a stable condition, following a decision earlier this year from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
And Archbishop Fred Naumann of Kansas City told the bishops that the Vatican was "reflecting on" issuing similar protocols on embryo adoption - a couple legally adopting a frozen embryo renounced by its biological parents usually following in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment.
The discussion came as the conference's influential Committee for Pro-Life Activities briefed the bishops on a future major text on IVF treatment.
Away from the full assembly a group of bishops met priests invited to the meeting, to begin a long-planned conversation on the handling of clergy sex-abuse allegations.
Though few bishops admit that priests' morale has suffered since the national scandal broke in 2002, Pope Benedict told the US bishops during his trip to America in April that strengthening relationships with the clergy was a vital part of bishops' work, "especially ... where tension has arisen" between priests and bishops.
He stressed that "not a few [priests] are experiencing a closeness to Christ in his Passion as they struggle to come to terms with the consequences of the crisis."
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